N.A. Degerstrom was founded as a sole proprietorship in 1904 by Nels A. Degerstrom. The company's primary work until 1920 was railroad construction for Great Northern Railway Co. and Southern Pacific & Santa Fe Railroad. The next 10 years were spent working on railroad and highway construction projects.

From 1930 to 1932, the company was involved with the earthfill part of the Rock Island Dam. After that, expansion included heavy highway, railroad, earthfill dams, airports and open-pit mining.

Some of the larger dam projects the company has been part of include the earthfill portions of the Wanapum and Wells dams on the Columbia River; and partnering on the $132 million Dworshak Dam, which in 1967 was the largest civil contract ever awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In the 1950s, heavy highway jobs made up about 75 percent of the company's business. Around that time, it also started to perform open-pit mining.

By the 1970s, mining started to become the company's niche. In 1978, the company developed a metallurgical laboratory and office in response to demand for precious metals exploration.

In the last decade, mining operations have made up about 90 percent of the company's business. That includes contract mining, as well as mine equity ownership and management ventures. As a contract miner, the company has mined over 500 million tons of rock from over 20 projects, producing 5 million ounces of gold.

Degerstrom now employs an engineering staff, including mining and civil engineers, and is a registered engineering corporation. It employs about 150 workers in the western U.S. Branch offices are located in Montana, Nevada, Mexico and Argentina.

Outside of mining, Degerstrom performs rock crushing and repairs roads and bridges.